Board to tackle safety, reorganization

Public-safety matters, along with 2014 organizational decisions, will concern Carson City’s Board of Supervisors in the first board meeting of 2014 on Thursday.

In the second meeting, two weeks later on Jan. 16, the board will focus on the next steps toward hiring a city manager, including the salary for the person to replace Larry Werner. Werner retired Dec. 19.

But the year’s first board meeting calls for tackling an expansion of the number who can serve on the 911 Surcharge Committee. The board will handle preliminary work to pass revision of the ordinance on the 25-cents-a-month surcharge. That advisory committee is charged with developing a plan to improve the telephone system used for reporting emergencies.

The change will allow the board to appoint five to seven members rather than be restricted to five, and change what constitutes a quorum. Supervisors already signaled they wanted to expand the board when six people showed interest in serving. The surcharge fund now has more than $400,000 and each year there is about $100,000 remaining, according to city Finance Director Nick Providenti.

He said upgraded 911 emergency communications software and hardware could cost $900,000 to $1.2 million, depending on the system recommended and chosen, so the advisory panel action plays into a significant upcoming community decision.

Fire Chief Stacey Giomi said the panel selected by the board will have six members, and a decision should come soon because the old system’s platform must be phased. The transition will take a couple of years, he said.

Sheriff Ken Furlong also has two items on Thursday’s agenda. One would create a supervising criminalist position due to the retirement of the senior forensic specialist from Furlong’s office; the other would create two deputy sheriff positions upon the retirement of a captain. The latter change would have a small fiscal impact, increasing personnel costs by $6,000 to $10,000, Providenti said.

In addition, the board on Thursday will meet as the city’s Redevelopment Authority to reorganize for the year and select one member to serve on the Redevelopment Authority Citizens Committee. The authority has the same membership as the Board of Supervisors.

The agenda also calls on the board to determine, as it does in January each year, which members will serve on the city’s various advisory panels, such as the Parks and Recreation Committee, the Planning Commission and the Audit Committee.